Walks from Hampton Lucy and Charlecote

As well as creating ‘The Spinney’, the late Alan Scaife helped to put together a leaflet of walks around Wellesbourne and the surrounding villages.

Here are two walks around Hampton Lucy and Charlecote.

Hampton Lucy

In AD 781, Offa the King of Mercia, granted land in Hampton Lucy, (meaning land by the river) to the Bishop of Worcester. Until 1549, the parish was known as Bishop’s Hampton, or sometimes Hampton Episcopi. There was a ford by Avonford cottage and the water mill was first mentioned in 1086. The first church was built in the 13th century but by 1480, the village was enclosed and many villagers were driven out.

The Bishop of Worcester sold the manor in 1549 to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland but in 1555, during the reign of Mary Tudor, he was executed as a protestant. In 1557, Queen Mary granted the lease to Thomas Lucy of Charlecote and the village became known as Hampton Lucy.

During the Second World War, a fully laden bomber crashed into Scar Bank creating a large explosion which blew out most of the church’s windows. The glass fragments were carefully collected by hand and after the war, the windows were rebuilt.

Charlecote

Charlecote Park is a Tudor Mansion that has been in the Lucy family for 900 years. It was built in Tudor times but extensively modified in nearly Victorian times. There are about 200 fallow deer in the park and a flock of Jacob sheep.

St Leonard’s church was built in 1851. Mary Elizabeth Lucy had the old Norman church knocked down and rebuilt in honour of her dead husband, George. The church contains the tombs of many of the Lucy family.

Tumbledown stile has an unusual design. It is to be found at the entrance to the footpath between the two garden centres.

Walk 1.

From Church Street walk east towards the river but before the bridge turn left along the track towards River Keepers Cottage, then turn left up the hill, then through a gate. Pass bench on the left and go through the gate into a huge field. Beware Badger holes! After about 200yds, enter the woods on the right and keep parallel to the field edge, first through tall brambles and then sloping grassland. On the left is bench 2 with a great view. Re-enter the field and continue north, until at the bottom the woods on the right give way to a meadow. Here the two routes separate.

Short walk - The Scar Bank: This riverside path is a "permissive path" which might be withdrawn at any time. Go through the kissing gate into the meadow with bench 3. Walk down the hill to the edge of the river and then turn south keeping close to the river. After a mile a kissing gate leads through the garden of River Keepers Cottage. You will have to press the red button to open the gate to get back to the bridge. In late summer the grass in the meadow may be long. It is better to reverse the route, keeping right at River Keepers Cottage

Longer walk (5.5mi / 2h45): Ignore the gate and keep straight on into another field; bear slightly left and follow a line of oak trees north until you reach a copse. Turn right and then left to skirt the copse. At a modern barn, turn left up a muddy track. Cross over the track, following the sign to Wood Cottage, alongside a copse and turn left at the end of the copse. Continue behind The Thatched House keeping close to a hedge on the left until you reach a road. Turn left across the Junction then right through the hedge onto a hidden footpath and

over a stile into a field, keeping the hedge on your left then turn left over a stile and again, keep the hedge on your left. Turn right at the fence then part way up the slope turn left through the fence and cut diagonally to the right across the field to a gate in the track to Daisy Hill Farm. Cross the track and go through another gate into a small field, skirting the private garden of the farm, through a gate and keep the wire fence on your right. Go through a gate and then downhill with a hedge on your left. Turn left over a stile then keeps the hedge on your left. Turn left at the end of the hedge and follow the hedge on your left. Part-way along you walk through a small copse and emerge in the same field. Turning left; follow the road past several drinking troughs, until turning left along the gravel track to Mount Pleasant Farm. After the farm buildings, keep the hedges on your left going downhill. Cross a stile and turn right, keeping the hedge on the right. At the road, turn left to return to Hampton Lucy. Cross a stile and turn right, keeping the hedge on the right. At the road, turn left to return to Hampton Lucy.

Walk 2.    

Short Walk (3 miles / lh30) Wellesbourne to Charlecote & Back - Cross the main road at the petrol station and go down Hoppers Lane at the side of the King’s Head. Turn right and proceed through the church yard. Continue through the gate on the far side, down the slope and turn right through the gate just before the white bridge. Follow the path that goes under the bypass and continue along the field edge. Do not cross the footbridge by the weir. Continue to the end of this long field which leads onto a metalled track. Turn left and cross the bridge.

At this point, you can either turn left and follow the riverside path back to Wellesbourne, or turn right and proceed to Charlecote. The path follows the river and joins the Charlecote road by the main bridge. Turn right to reach Charlecote Park and the Garden Centres. Your return journey is by the same route. However, keep to your left and take the path on the right of the river back to Wellesbourne.

Longer walk (4.5 miles / 2hr15):

The distinct path crosses the first field and follows the hedge line of the next one. Turn left at the end of the third field and climb the short hill with the woods on your right. At the top, follow the path round to the left and after a short distance, the path forms a T-junction. Despite appearances this is a County Class E road. Turn left across the open field. Across the field the path dips downhill turn left where the

track passes between hedgerows. Ignoring better tracks to right and then left. Continue straight on until you reach a field entrance on A429 opposite the entrance to the University of Warwick Life Sciences Park (former HRI). Taking care to see traffic, cross the main road and carry on straight across LSP to a gate on to the Charlecote to Warwick Road. Turn left and walk along the footway towards the centre of Charlecote. To return to Wellesbourne, keep on the main road past the two garden centres and over the bridge. There is a footpath way marker on your left, shortly after the bridge. This path follows the river Dene all the way to Wellesbourne - just over a mile. Cross over the white bridge, to your left and follow the path into St Peters churchyard. Continue through the churchyard and exit at the rear of the King’s Head pub. The narrow lane at the side of the pub leads to the main road and the Shell garage.